Tuesday, September 13, 2011

reading impaired

if anyone could stand to read poems
and if such compositions weren't utterly absurd
this would be a poem 
about all the books i buy 
but for whatever reason
don't get around to reading
so they sit there on the shelves
saying read me
often in a rude tone of voice
which is annoying
but also makes me feel guilty and stupid
if this were one of those hated unreadable poems
as i say
it would present a list
of the unread guilt-inducing books
lining my shelves and piled up
on desks & chairs & lamp tables & the computer table & the floor
saying read me
before it's too late
before you recognize with certainty
that the views of eloquent others
brilliant others
aren't nearly so important as your very own
views which after all 
you're pretty much stuck living with
no matter what some famous author 
has to say 
on the matter
though wallace stevens 
may well be an exception



Copyright 2011 by Patrick O'Hayer